The Panthers don't necessarily believe that three is a magic number. Not after three losses and three forwards, their No. 1 line from last year, missing from Friday's practice and questionable for Saturday's game against Philadelphia.

While missing left wing Tomas Fleischmann (cut foot), center Stephen Weiss (undisclosed lower-body injury) and right wing Kris Versteeg (groin) won't help an offense that has put up two goals in the last three games, perhaps actually getting a practice in would. Friday was the first normal practice since Sunday.

The Panthers weren't on the ice long, about 35 minutes.

"We weren't out there long, but everything we did had a purpose," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. "We followed that up with some work off the ice. It is a work in progress. The good thing about it is the players are very aware of it, too."